August 16, 2010

Hummer Club Trip in Bishop

Wow! What an awesome weekend! We had a great group get together for two days of wheeling in the mountains around Bishop. We covered about eighty miles of trails. The CHO posse consisted of the following:

DAY ONEWe met in Laws to begin our journey up Silver Canyon. We had two people that were new to wheeling so this was a good start. The canyon starts off tame but quickly turns into steep switchbacks. After about a mile we ran into an obstacle, a broke down pickup left on the side of the road. There was just enough room to get everyone by.

We had another mile of the switchbacks before reaching the top. They can be intimidating but you can not get a view like this anywhere else!

At the ridge, we gathered for a quick photo opportunity.

We proceeded to Schulman Grove to see the Bristlecone pine trees and to grab a bite of lunch. Now it was time to descend down the back side of the White Mountains through Wyman Canyon into Deep Springs Valley. The views were awe inspiring. There were several cabins to investigate and many creek crossings.

Wyman Canyon had a lot breath-taking views.

We dropped down into Deep Springs Valley and took highway 168 into Big Pine and 395 back to Bishop. We later gathered at Bar-B-Q Bills for Dinner.

DAY TWOAll six of us gathered at the trailhead in Swall Meadows to start our trek to Wheeler Ridge. Unfortunately, JR3T was experiencing problems with his transfer case. It was making loud popping noises about every fifty feet when in low range. Rather than risking a break down, he chose to head home, taking his wife and child who were there for the ride as well. We proceeded up Sand Canyon, taking in all the wonderful views.

Once we hit beginig of Wheeler Ridge Mine Road, we stopped for a quick lunch.

Now, this is when the trail gets a little bit challenging. Everybody made it through the challenges very well.

Unfortunately, trailerpup blew a radiator hose close to the top. One of the mounts on the lower hose was not mounted properly and the lower belt pully cut a hole in the hose. We were able to patch it up with a tire patch kit and duct tape along with some zip-ties to insure the hose did not hit the pully again. Good thing we had a real mechanic supervisor on hand.

I made the decision to turn around. I wanted to make sure we got everyone off the mountain. We got report back the trailerpup made it back home with our improvised patch without incident.